Graphics Card (Update)GTX460vsHD5770

Ok, so I had been asking about whether or not I should swap out my old card for another one I had sitting around.

Well I had the wrong card info in the last thread so I figure I'd start fresh while also posing some new questions.

My card wasn't an HD 5550 but was an HD 5770. I still took it out and replaced it with the GTX 460. The only game installed right now is the D3 Beta. But I really feel like it is more choppy and less consistent now with framerates than before.

Is this the beta? Or is the gtx 460 1gb generally an inferior card to the HD 5770? My nvidia drivers are the latest and my system was/is above all the games recommended specs.

Just curious if I should switch back or wait and see if the beta gets optimized/fixed a bit.

It could in all possibility be your just in your head =) I suggest getting something like fraps to show your actual framerate in game, and I would also see how it does over the coarse of a week, since this IS beta and people constantly logging on / off already overpopulated servers could mess things up =)

Heh I sometimes feel it is in my head. I over think things a bit. I have had fraps in before and after and while the GTX460 lets the game run anywhere from 70-100+ frames once vysnc is on the game quite often drops below the 60 threshold and drops hard. Idk. I will keep at it for a bit. /sigh

From what I just read from a google search of "hd5770 vs gtx460" the gtx460 is going to be the better card in most situations. But what I would do is just benchmark/stress test your comp with both cards and see which performs better if you already have both in hand.

I've said before what a great card the GTX 460 is. It can easily max out Skyrim including a bunch of FXAA tweaks and it's a nice small card too relative to your average Radeon card. It also has lots of nice copper coil inside. I've never had any power issues with it.

...the GTX460 lets the game run anywhere from 70-100+ frames once vysnc is on the game quite often drops below the 60 threshold and drops hard...

That is a VSync flaw. The way VSync works, as you all know, is that it sets a FPS limit, depending on the Refresh Rate of your monitor, but when it drops below 60, even by 1 or 2 frames, it goes all the way down to 30 FPS for a moment until your monitor refreshes again. Which causes the annoying stuttering.

As you said, without VSync, the game runs around 70-100+ FPS.
So, what happens is that as your game runs with 60 FPS, because of VSync locking it to your refresh rate, everything is smooth but if the game drops below 60, even tho it might've been to 58 FPS if VSync was off, with it on, your FPS will drop all the way down to 30 FPS (Half of your Refresh Rate) and wait for the next "tick" of your monitor to refresh and go back to 60 FPS.
So, if you're playing without VSync, your FPS can drop to 40+, 50+ FPS with no visible stuttering.

...the GTX460 lets the game run anywhere from 70-100+ frames once vysnc is on the game quite often drops below the 60 threshold and drops hard...

That is a VSync flaw. The way VSync works, as you all know, is that it sets a FPS limit, depending on the Refresh Rate of your monitor, but when it drops below 60, even by 1 or 2 frames, it goes all the way down to 30 FPS for a moment until your monitor refreshes again. Which causes the annoying stuttering.

As you said, without VSync, the game runs around 70-100+ FPS.
So, what happens is that as your game runs with 60 FPS, because of VSync locking it to your refresh rate, everything is smooth but if the game drops below 60, even tho it might've been to 58 FPS if VSync was off, with it on, your FPS will drop all the way down to 30 FPS (Half of your Refresh Rate) and wait for the next "tick" of your monitor to refresh and go back to 60 FPS.
So, if you're playing without VSync, your FPS can drop to 40+, 50+ FPS with no visible stuttering.